


Beach Date

by ericsonclan



Series: Ericson's Diner AU [26]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Beaches, Day At The Beach, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25769533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Clementine and Louis go on a double date with James and his boyfriend Jesse.
Relationships: Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), Jesse/James (Walking Dead: Suffer The Children)
Series: Ericson's Diner AU [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688374
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Beach Date

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

“Those look nice on you,”

Clementine turned to see James standing behind her, smiling as she stood before him in a pair of sunglasses from a beachfront boutique. The couples had paused in their walk to the beach to peruse one of the local stores and Clementine had immediately found herself drawn to a certain pair of aviator sunglasses. She pulled them down to see James more clearly. “Find anything you like?”

James shook his head. “I’m fine,”

That didn’t surprise Clementine. James didn’t exactly strike her as the type to own a lot of stuff. They’d only known each other for a few months since they paired up on a project for their college social studies class, but Clementine felt like she’d known James far longer. There was something calming about him that always put her at ease.

Suddenly Louis burst out of the dressing room, proudly strutting forward in a shirt that had Clementine giggling. It was one of those bikini body shirts that women wore to look comically sexy while in the modest comfort of a t-shirt. Louis struck a pose as soon as he spotted Clementine, the rhinestones of the drawing of the hot pink bikini twinkling under the store lights. “So, what do you think? Is it me or what?”

“Oh, totally,” Clementine quipped. “I won’t be able to keep my hands off of you if you’re wearing _that_ sexy number,”

Louis winked playfully at her. “I’m nothing if not alluring. Well, I’ll get changed and then we can go,”

“Wait, so you’re not buying it?” Clementine asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I…” Louis paused, uncertain. “Do you _want_ me to?”

“I’m teasing, you weirdo!”

“O-OK then,” Louis stumbled back towards the dressing room without another word.

Clementine shook her head knowingly. That boy could dish it, but he could never take it. She loved seeing him flustered.

Jesse emerged beside James. “You guys almost ready to go?”

“Mhm,” James turned to look at his boyfriend. “Did those trunks work out?”

“Nah, the fit was off. I’ll find some others later,” Jesse looked at Clementine with fascination. “Nice shades, Clem,”

“Thanks,” Clementine didn’t know much about Jesse, but from what James had told her he seemed like a nice guy. He and James had met in an environmental studies class; Jesse was planning to be a park ranger. He’d recently moved to West Virginia so he didn’t know many folks in the area yet. Maybe on another date he and James could drop by Ericson’s Diner and meet the rest of the crew.

Louis reemerged from the dressing room, this time wearing a bright blue t-shirt that read “I need my vitamin sea”. “Alright, I’m ready to check out. Clem, do you want those aviators? They look badass on you,”

“Sure, that’d be nice,” Clementine handed the sunglasses to Louis who promptly headed over to the counter. She didn’t know where her last pair of sunglasses had ended up, but searching for them this morning had proved to be a lost cause. Considering how bright it was outside, she knew she’d be thankful to have this pair on hand.

Their purchases made, the couples headed down toward the beach. As the grass beneath them turned to sand they kicked off their shoes, holding them in their hands. Louis’ and Clementine’s free hands linked, swinging back and forth lazily as they continued to walk.

A mischievous expression suddenly came upon Jesse’s face. He lightly tapped James’ shoulder. “Race you to the water,” With no further warning he was off like a shot, leaving James in a dead sprint to catch up, lightly laughing as he gave chase.

Louis turned to Clementine. “While those two are doing their thing, you want to find a place to set up?”

Clementine nodded. Luckily it wasn’t too busy a day at the beach. None of them had classes today and Violet had promised to cover for Louis back at the restaurant. Taking off her backpack, Clementine got out the towels and beach mats to set up. Louis handled getting the umbrella in place. It took a little ingenuity and several rocks he picked up from the edge of the beach, but eventually he had it securely in place.

Clementine applied sunscreen to her face, arms and legs before beginning to take off her outer clothes. She’d figured it was best to just wear her swimsuit under her clothes for easy changing, though she’d end up a bit damp on the way home. Her swimsuit was forest green, a one piece with an open back with crisscrossing straps. Clementine turned to Louis, holding out the bottle with a shy smile. “Could you do my back?”

Louis’ eyes widened before a goofy grin crossed his face. “Yeah, definitely!”

Clementine turned her back to Louis, brushing the curls that tickled the base of her neck to one side.

A loud splort came from behind her. “Uh, Clem? I think I got too much,”

“That’s OK. Just use some on yourself,”

Louis began to apply the sunscreen to her back. She shivered a bit at the coldness. “You know, now that I think about it I don’t know if I’ve ever burned,”

“Really?”

“Yep. Never needed sunscreen most of the time either,”

“Well, I guess you are a lot darker than me,” Clementine looked out at the water. Jesse and James were knee deep in it now, splashing at each other playfully. “I didn’t get to go to the beach much when I was younger. It’s nice going now,” She felt Louis’ arms come round her shoulders to gently pull her into a hug. His lips brushed quickly against her shoulder.

“Here’s to making it the best day ever,” Suddenly an annoyed exhale left his mouth. “Shit, I got sunscreen all over the sleeve of my new shirt,”

“Here, let me help,” Clementine turned around, scooping up some of the sunscreen onto her fingertips. She applied it behind her ears and across the bridge of her nose before reapplying the rest to her shoulders. Could never be too careful.

“You’ve still got a spot on your nose,” Louis grinned at her. “Right… there,” He quickly rubbed the smudge into her skin before leaning down to place a playful kiss on the tip of her nose. Before he could pull back too far Clementine had wrapped her hand round the back of Louis’ neck, pulling him in for a longer kiss. They were both smiling once they pulled apart. “So…” Louis said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, “Sandcastle time?”

Clementine’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Let’s do it!”

Jesse and James soon joined them in their castle-building endeavors. Louis and James began to make trips down to the water to get wetter sand while Jesse and Clementine dug out the moat that would surround their castle. Jesse and James had dropped their shirts off by the towels. Now that his shoulders were bare, a tattoo on Jesse’s shoulder stood out to Clementine. Some of the letters looked like English to her, but others were unrecognizable.

Jesse noticed her gaze. “Got a question for me?” He looked over, his long black hair falling along his side.

“Your tattoo – what language is it?”

“Tsalagi. It’s my mother’s Cherokee name,”

Clementine remembered James mentioning that Jesse was Native American. The tone he’d had when mentioning his mother made her feel like there was more to his story, but she didn’t want to pry.

Jesse watched her inquisitively. “You’re part of the club too, huh?”

Clementine looked at him in confusion.

“The My Parents Are Dead Club. Seems like we’re always able to spot each other. How long’s it been for you?”

“It happened when I was eight,”

“Sorry to hear that. I was thirteen when I lost her. Never knew my old man.”

“It never gets easier, does it?” Clementine asked, looking down at the trench they’d dug.

“No, it never does,”

Suddenly they heard footsteps behind them.

“Hey, guys! Look how much sand we got!” Louis ran forward, holding his shirt in front of them. He’d put it back on to use in lieu of buckets. James followed closely behind, his arms full of sand.

Jesse turned back to Clementine with a grin. “Ready to build the tallest sand castle ever?”

“Hell yeah I am,”

\----

It didn’t end up being that tall. Every time they got some good height going, part of the structure would crumble, leaving them scrambling to rebuild. They still had a ton of fun though. Louis brought back some plastic cups with their lunch and he and Clementine ended up using them to mix water and sand, dribbling the mixture down their fingers to form little turrets across their castle. Jesse and James got really into the outer sculpting of the castle, adding brick detailing and even little guards round the perimeter and along the wall. The guards mostly looked like nondescript mounds, but it was still a nice detail.

They were in no hurry to get home, so once the sandcastle had achieved ‘perfection’ in their eyes the couples parted ways for a time. Clementine and Louis decided to take a nap, curling up together under the shelter of the umbrella, while Jesse and James took a walk along the water. Clementine found herself drifting in and out of her sleep as the sun warmed her, keeping her in a satisfied, dreamy haze. She turned to face Louis, smiling as she found herself inches away from his sleeping face. She lifted a hand to brush across his dreadlocks. How hard was it to get the sand out of them? She knew she’d be finding sand in her own shower for days after this. Leaning forward, Clementine placed a soft kiss atop his nose before settling down to sleep once more.

\----

Night was falling by the time they headed out. Louis and Clementine carried all the stuff in the backpack and beach bag while James carried Jesse. While they were walking in the water Jesse had nicked his foot on something sharp. An unfortunate accident, but he seemed happy enough with the resulting piggyback ride. His head rested against James shoulder as the two of them talked softly amongst themselves.

Louis and Clementine were holding hands again. He turned to look at her, smiling before blowing a stray clump of sand off her shoulder. “So was the beach everything you hoped it’d be?”  
Clementine nodded. She could feel a blissful, sleepy warmth settling deep within her. “It was a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting me,”

“Anytime, my darling,” Louis glanced over at the two boys, bobbing his head in their direction. “They seemed to have a good time too. We should invite them over to Ericson’s sometime,”

“I was thinking the same thing,”

“Great minds,” Louis said, grinning proudly.

They’d reached the car now. James had switched to carrying Jesse bridal style in order to help him into the car even though Jesse insisted he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. Louis got behind the wheel while Clementine took shotgun. Louis adjusted his mirror, looking in it toward the back. “Everybody ready to go? Seatbelts on?”

After a chorus of yeses Louis pulled out of the parking lot, turning the car toward home. Clementine leaned her head against the back of her chair, feeling her eyes drift shut again. It had been a wonderful beach day.


End file.
